Bronze for Hodgkinson in National Track & Field U15/U17 Championships 2016

This weekend saw the National Track & Field U15/U17 Championships at Bedford, in which UK’s aspiring young athletes produced some tremendous performances breaking records and personal bests all weekend; but in this event winning means so much more than times and distances and Leigh Harriers young athletes Keely Hodgkinson and Laura Hickey where there to compete against the best!

Keely started her competition off on Saturday in heat one of the U15 800m; she looked comfortable racing to 2nd place in 2:17.78 and booking herself a place in the final. On day 2 in the final, she toed the line in a very high class field. On her first lap Keely got boxed in at one point but she did not panic, getting out of the situation like a pro she moved into 3rd position and nearly clinched 2nd when all three girls moved away from the rest of the field to finish in fine style; her time of 2:12.53 breaks her own previous club record and now ranks her 4th in the UK.

Laura Hickey had yet another busy weekend, having competed on the same track last week in the U15 combined events competition. Day 1 saw Laura race in the 100m when she clocked 13.09secs, but her next event the triple jump saw Laura jump 10.35m for 4th place in a national competition. Day 2 and in the 75m hurdles heat one Laura booked her spot into the semi-finals with a time of 11.79secs, and in the semis she bettered that to clock 11.75secs. Her Long Jump of 4.71m was a little below her best after a long and tiring competition.

Keely Hodgkinson Bronze medalist in the National T&F Championships Bedford 28 August 2016